Elfen Lied (Manga)

Other manga by Lynn Okamoto: Brynhildr in the Darkness Nononono Parallel ParadiseAdvertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })Lucy, a beautiful but lethal Diclonius, escapes from a sinister research facility, brutally slaughtering anyone that gets in her way, whether they intended to or not. However, a glancing head shot from an anti-tank rifle leaves her injured, and she falls into the ocean, unconscious...Later, university student Kouta and his female cousin Yuka are walking along the Yuigahama beach near Kamakura, when they find a naked young woman with horns on her head. They end up taking her home and calling her Nyu after the only sound she makes.Between the sinister government agency running the facility, Yuka's jealousy, Nyu's dark and troubled alternate personality Lucy and a traumatic past he cannot remember, Kouta is in deep trouble. Caught between monsters, both human and not, where does his loyalty lie?Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_2'); })Elfen Lied (pronounced Elfen Leet, not Elfen "Lied"), written by Lynn Okamoto, is a gornographic manga, which has been likened to a combination of X-Men, Carrie, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Friday the 13th, Love Hina, Devilman and Monster. In other words, it's a twisted mixture of mutant battles, Psychic Powers, split personalities, pseudo-harem antics, cute girls, the male lead who discovers that the person whom he interacted during that person's childhood is evil, and of course, bucketloads of Gorn - and it's more than happy to swing between comedy and horror at the drop of a hat. It has also been compared to I Dream of Jeannie as done by David Lynch and Wes Craven. There is also a short anime series of the same name that follows the first couple of chapters but ends with an alternative ending before the real plot kicks off.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_3'); })The series' title is German for "Elves' Song" or more formally "song of the elves'" and takes its name from the poem "Elfenlied", which is featured twice in the story.The series has become something of a Cult Classic: given the heavy amounts of bloody violence and nudity, not to mention the dark tone overall (which are even worse in the manga), even in Japan the series only aired on satellite TV, as a glorified commercial for the DVD release. In North America, ADV Films didn't seriously think the show would gain widespread popularity, if only for the pragmatic reason that it was limited to mature audiences and could only be marketed to such. There was actually supposed to be a second season, but the show had to end after only one season largely due to lack of exposure in Japan from its limited TV run. Then, purely by word of mouth, it became one of ADV's top selling North American DVDs of 2005.Compare and contrast AKIRA, Saikano, Deadman Wonderland, Monster, and the video game F.E.A.R.. For series that deal with a superpowered species, compare and contrast Claymore and Hellsing. Not be confused with Okamoto's one-shot Elfenlied (often written as Elfen Lied), which has nothing to do with this series. Also not to be confused with the Hentai Elfen Laid (often stylized as EL).Announced in 2018, Dark Horse Comics will license the series in English for the first time in the west. The twelve adaptations will be compressed into four separate 3-in-1 omnibuses, the first which to be released in May 2019.

Heroic BSoD: Kouta went through one when he was a child that lasted for a year, and caused him to repress some painful childhood memories. When Nyu is captured again, she thinks it was impossible that her actual side is the killer. Dr. Kurama falls into despair after shooting Mariko. In the manga, when her own "papa", Kurama, has Nyu captured and is about to kill her, Nana is so emotionally distraught that she goes nearly catatonic. She naturally snaps out of it once Nyu turns into Lucy and the tables are turned on Kurama.

Where It All Began: In the final pages of the manga, Kouta visits the orphanage, specifically the grave of Lucy's pet dog, once a day due to a strange whim. He does this for at least a decade, until his daughter finds a Message in a Bottle and two familiar faces.

Towards the end, Kurama attempt to shoot and kill Lucy in revenge, ultimately shooting Kouta in her presence, thus causing her to go on a Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum, leading to thousands more deaths.

Cute Is Evil: As a general rule, if you see a cute thing (especially if it's a young girl with pink hair), it's generally a good idea to run screaming in the opposite direction. Most of the cute characters you see are superpowered psychopaths who would just as soon tear you in half as look at you. Mariko, for instance, is a little Diclonius in a wheelchair, and can tear apart opponents without lifting a finger. Special mention to Nousou, who is drawn in an effeminate, Bishōnen style and is fawned over by some of the other cute characters, suggesting that he may just be a nice guy after all. He is then promptly shown overseeing a messy process of stripping the spinal columns out of skeletal torsos of diclonii that were killed for that express purpose. But the shining example is the Diclonius DNA Voice, the Enemy Within to all Diclonii and the source of their evil, an entity which seeks to destroy all humanity... and takes a form resembling Kaede, Lucy’s childhood self.

Numerous examples, especially near the Manga's end. The Agent and the Unknown man are the most prominent. The Operatives in the Vector Craft, the Fleet Captain, and The Bakery Lady are also never named.

Bloodier and Gorier: While the manga is still pretty gory, the anime turned it Up to Eleven. A good example is Kisaragi's death- in the manga her head is ripped clean in one swing, while in the anime it’s gruesomely twisted off.

Crapsack World: Besides the nice-looking coastal city the series takes place in, apathy and discrimination run rampant, where being a Diclonius means a lifetime of being broken repeatedly and being a human means living in fear of the child being born a silpelit, which will accidentally kill its parents by the age of 3 as a result of its vectors.

Shoot the Shaggy Dog: The Kakuzawas' plans are foiled, after so many people have pointlessly died (directly or indirectly) because of what they did. The world remains rotten, and nothing's been accomplished.

What Measure Is a Non-Cute?: Zig-zagged, particularly in the manga. The trope at first appears to be played straight, with Mayu and the "cute" diclonii (Nyu and Nana) winding up on the good guys' side while evil diclonii are either given Dull Eyes of Unhappiness or are outright masked to make them appear less cute. However, as the series continues, even cute diclonii like Mariko and her clones, or Number 28 suffer gruesome deaths and the penultimate event of the entire manga is Lucy suffering a horrific and painful death where she melts herself with the entropy of her own powers. Oh, and while cuteness provides one with a measure of protection against sudden, messy deaths, it's no protection against maiming, torture, or psychological breakdown.

Gratuitous German: The title of series is actually bad German. Correctly, it would be Elfenlied. Probably because to distinguish the title of series from the German song that also appears there twice. The Idiosyncratic Episode Naming which is in German. Nozomi's favorite song being "Elfenlied". Nyu/Lucy sings this song, too. Both the manga and anime end with "Das Ende", which means "The End".

Kill 'Em All: Explicitly states that Lucy could singlehandedly cause Diclonii to outnumber humans (guaranteeing their extinction), but doesn't actually occur in the series. Through various genetic-modifying Techno Babble, humans create a "vaccine" that removes the Diclonii genes from humans, extinguishing them as a racial offshoot. Yeah, that's right; the Diclonii end up being the victims of genocide and rendered totally extinct. A case of Grey-and-Gray Morality in that, no matter what happened one species was going to wipe out the other.

Clash of Evolutionary Levels: Diclonius/Diclonii, or Homo Diclonius, are a newly mutated subspecies of human. Their appearance is similar to humans, but with several differences, namely horn-like protrusions on the forehead and the presence of telekinetic invisible arms called "vectors." Diclonii are hated and feared by the few people who know about them, as they seem to have an innate urge to kill humans (the entire reason why people became aware of them is because when they develop their vectors at age 3 they kill their families). Once this was known, it resulted in all known Diclonii being euthanized soon after birth or kidnapped and locked away in a government facility that performs painful experiments on them. It's revealed that Diclonii have a "DNA voice," or a genetic drive to kill humans and take their place as Earth's dominant species. However, there is some ambiguity as to just how much this can be averted by childhood circumstances; every Diclonius in the series has been abused by humans to the point where their biological survival instinct has fused with their psychosis, which insists that humans must be eradicated or they will eradicate the Diclonii. There are some hints that if Diclonii were treated better by humans they could learn to suppress their murderous urges.

Most Diclonii. Whether it's because Humans Are Bastards or because of a genetic drive is unclear. It's at least very heavily implied that it's a genetic drive. The fact that Humans Are Bastards just makes it easier for them to listen to their inner voice telling them to kill everyone.

Adaptational Heroism: Both Lucy and Kurama come off as much less messed-up as individuals in the anime than they were in the original manga, with some of the more villainous actions getting cut from the story.

The most egregious example is - again, from the manga - the Director and Shirakawa. He finds out she's a spy: He graphically molests her and uses the "Not If They Enjoyed It" Rationalization to humiliate her. It comes out of nowhere, it could be removed and nothing would be lost (save some exposition after the fact) and after that, it's never brought up again as Lucy kills her soon after. At least Mayu had a character arc with her assault, this is just for shock value and more evidence to show that the Director is evil.

Establishing Series Moment: 14 seconds into the first episode, a nameless guard is beheaded by Lucy. That's right 14 seconds in. In this one, the clowns didn't even make it in the door, it was slammed in their face right after it was opened. The general feel of Elfen Lied is realized when the cute, clumsy secretary gets her head cut off in the first five-seven minutes of the first episode (and she had done nothing except walk in on Lucy's battle). And it doesn't help that Lucy uses her beheaded body as a human shield next.

Anti Anti Christ: Villain Protagonist variant with Lucy. Though Kakuzawa expects her to lead the diclonius race and replace humanity (presumably with himself serving as The Man Behind the Queen), she's not particularly interested in the job. She later winds up killing him and (mostly inadvertently) plays a big role in saving humanity.

Adult Fear: Far too many things to list, but a notable example in the manga is the character of the Unknown Man. He's a sadistic rapist who was allowed to torture many Diclonii at the research facility, and he comes frighteningly close to raping Mayu as well. Speaking of Mayu, there's also her backstory. She was forced to escape her sexually abusive stepfather and indifferent mother, and in the anime she almost walks into the ocean after realizing she has nowhere else to go.

Subverted, surprisingly enough: in episode 3, what looks like a Gory Discretion Shot implies that Lucy has done her usual job on Wanta that was barking at her. Soon after, it's revealed that she simply cut its leash.

Humans Are the Real Monsters: A huge part of the show, but Bandou really pushes the envelope, and the Unknown Man pushes it off a cliff. Sometimes it seems that the Diclonii are more human than the actual humans, but usually not for long. More or less every human or Diclonius is pretty unpleasant to its own kind, but especially nasty to the other. It may just be the humans we see that are nasty, but that's everyone except Kouta, Kanae, Yuka, Mayu and Nozomi.

Given the near total lack of evidence to support this, it's probably more likely that the "voice driving diclonii to kill all humans" is nothing more than the internal manifestation of Lucy and Barbara's psychotic break(s), and all other such examples are just kids being kids with horrifically dangerous powers.

Fantastic Racism: Played straight in the fact that humans believe Diclonii to be murderous monsters that will wipe out humanity and hunt them down without mercy. Subverted by the fact, that this time humanity is right. Maybe. Though Diclonii do have a genetic drive to kill humans, there is some ambiguity as to just how much this can be averted by childhood circumstances. Nana is the most obvious example, but there are others in the manga. There is also, it's noted, a genetic drive in humans to kill humans, but those are normally suppressed by parents raising their children, not torturing them from their birth, chaining them up, and shooting rocks at them. See Informed Ability below. It's a complex (and tragic) problem. Diclonii begin to use vectors around age 3, when Kids Are Cruel as well as intractable and still without inhibitions, notwithstanding that they can't even properly understand death. It's pretty hard for a 3 year old child with the power to destroy anything nearby with minimal effort to NOT commit brutal murders and antagonize humanity, and set in motion the whole conflict. It takes an exceedingly gentle personality, in fact, which is not a survival advantage and therefore rare. Even Diclonii would have trouble raising Diclonius children, except if they kept them at vector's length all the time, which is impractical. Although the Institute completely screwed it up with the whole torture business, the best bet is probably raising such children in isolation and gradually socializing them and increasing human contact AFTER they know that, well, tearing people apart with vectors is, well, wrong.

Art Major Physics: When an enemy is out of reach of their vectors, a Diclonius will typically use her vectors to instead throw objects at them. These thrown objects invariably behave like a bullet or arrow, regardless of the actual aerodynamic properties of the object in question. Of course, we're talking about very small objects thrown at the speed of a bullet, like that pen that's thrown into a soldier's eye. Played straight for extremely large objects.

The Power of Love: Not in the way it's usually thought of, and it doesn't show much in the anime, but the manga makes it pretty clear that love (primarily of the filial sort rather than romantic) is more powerful than anything else motivating a Diclonius, even their instinctive drive to Kill All Humans. It can even override the obedience devices in the lobotomised Mariko clones.

Through various genetic-modifying Techno Babble, humans create a "vaccine" that removes the Diclonii genes from humans, extinguishing them as a racial offshoot. Yeah, that's right; the Diclonii end up being the victims of genocide and rendered totally extinct. A case of Grey-and-Gray Morality in that, no matter what happened one species was going to wipe out the other.

Gratuitous Rape: It certainly seems like this. There's Lucy who was on the receiving end of Attempted Rape, and Mayu who ran away from a sexually abusive stepfather. And in the manga, there's the Unknown Man. How do we know he's evil? Because of the atrocious rape he gleefully commits on Diclonii. Even when he's on a time frame to find Lucy, he still stops to try and rape Mayu. The most egregious example is - again, from the manga - the Director and Shirakawa. He finds out she's a spy: He graphically molests her and uses the "Not If They Enjoyed It" Rationalization to humiliate her. It comes out of nowhere, it could be removed and nothing would be lost (save some exposition after the fact) and after that, it's never brought up again as Lucy kills her soon after. At least Mayu had a character arc with her assault, this is just for shock value and more evidence to show that the Director is evil.

And the Adventure Continues: The manga leaves off on a wild card: Anna, who is revealed to be (or regresses back into) an intact human, awakens to Nousou's Bifauxnen assistant/bodyguard, Nozomi's voice recovers, and Kouta begins his life married to (presumably) Yuka. The last page shows two twins (who are likely the reborn Lucy and Nyu) about a decade later arriving at the grave of Lucy's pet dog, to an older Kouta and his daughter.

Mugging the Monster: The kids who picked on Lucy and killed her dog didn't know just what they were messing with. Several characters do this to the Diclonii (usually Lucy). Most don't get a chance to learn from their mistake.

Covers Always Lie: Compared to the amount of blood and violence in this series, and how mentally scarred Lucy is, she sure does seem calm and serene on the DVD and manga covers. “Awww, look at that manga cover, with the incredibly moe pink-haired girl on the front.◊ This looks like a pretty innocent ser-WHY IS THERE SO MUCH BLOOD!?”

Grey-and-Gray Morality: The diclonii are a race of superpowered psychotic killers, who bloodily dismember any human that crosses their path. The human scientists opposing them perform horrific experiments on them which are more or less torture in the name of science, and kill them off whenever they've outlived their usefulness. Hard to fault either of them for wanting the other guys dead.

Human Subspecies: The Diclonii, or Homo Diclonius, are the result of mutant ovaries. They have neko ear-like bone horns and enlarged pituitary glands; besides that, they're a cross between humans (most of what they are), social insects (for Silpelits in how they age), viruses (how they reproduce, for the most part) and gods (the vectors).

Frankenstein's Monster: Manga only, but a young-looking scientist scavenges a dead body blown to bits by an explosion and is able to reanimate the dead within his "laboratory" with some Applied Phlebotinum (it's never clearly explained). Can you guess what happens next?

Breather Episode: Episode 10.5, the OVA, an extremely loose adaptation of Chapter 85-86, which explains how Lucy was captured in the beginning of the manga. A nice break if one is going through the series in one sitting.

Bloody Horror: Lucy is frequently covered in blood after killing people with her psychic powers. When Kouta finally witnesses this in the anime it's extremely traumatic for him since he had been trying to protect her and befriended her throughout the series, and because he has PTSD from a traumatic past. Heck even her origin story as noted above involves her being covered in blood this way.

Artistic License – Law: In the manga finale, the World Health Organization issued a birth ban until the Diclonius birth vaccine could be distributed. The WHO has no authority to order UN member nations to do anything. At best, they can strongly recommend actions, but the rest is up to every single national government on Earth.

The Fair Folk: The Diclonii seem to have been influenced by them in many aspects: children that are secretly given to human parents but turn out to be monsters, invulnerable to normal weapons and can only be killed with a special metal (in this case tungsten instead of Cold Iron). It's these kinds of elves that the title is referring to.

What Happened to the Mouse?: Mayu's neglectful mother abruptly leaves the story after she allows her daughter to stay with Kouta and Yuka at the Maple House. Towards the end of the series, Nozomi's Well-Intentioned Extremist father disappears after discovering that his daughter has escaped from the hospital, and is never seen or mentioned again.

Friendly Tickle Torture: One of the VERY few cute moments takes place in the OVA special when Nana, Lucy, and Yuka are all taking a bath together. At the very start of the scene, Lucy is seen tickling Nana.

The general feel of Elfen Lied is realized when the cute, clumsy secretary gets her head cut off in the first five-seven minutes of the first episode (and she had done nothing except walk in on Lucy's battle). And it doesn't help that Lucy uses her beheaded body as a human shield next.

Kill All Humans: Most Diclonii. Whether it's because Humans Are Bastards or because of a genetic drive is unclear. It's at least very heavily implied that it's a genetic drive. The fact that Humans Are Bastards just makes it easier for them to listen to their inner voice telling them to kill everyone. One interpretation is that the "genetic voice" of the Diclonii to be a simple case of egoism. It's mentioned often in the manga that human beings have a drive to expand and survive that is based primarily on egoism; it is only natural the Homo sapiens diclonius would have a similar drive. Since they are competing with humans for a place in the world, and since their vectors give them a huge advantage, it isn't difficult for them to associate their capabilities with manifest destiny and a sense of superiority, particularly after the abuse many of them receive at the hands of human beings. This serves as a particularly brutal aesop regarding both the consequences of mistreating fellow human beings and the objective insignificance of human life. Another interpretation is that the "genetic voice" is just regular insanity and the humans simply misinterpreted the Diclonii based on that.

Karmic Death: In the backstory, Tomoo is killed by Lucy, the same Diclonius whom he ridiculed. During Lucy and Bando's showdown, the Unknown Man tries to save Lucy from Bando, and she responds by popping off his head and throwing it at Bando since there was nothing else around for her to throw. After Nousou removing the mind-control device of Barbara, in hope that she really loves him as a father, she beheads him for all the experiments he did to her numerous failed sisters.

Apocalypse Wow: The manga has some fun near the ending, including an impressive ten or so pages dedicated to Lucy destroying the world when she accidentally thinks Kouta is Killed Off for Real; he's not. There's also many treats to the eventual destruction of the research facility, which is ripped apart from below the ground up with Lucy's vectors after she kills Kakuzawa.

Big Bad: Director Kakuzawa runs the research facility and is responsible for all the horrific experiments the Diclonii suffer through. He plans to capture Lucy and use her to Kill All Humans then replace them with a new Diclonii race that he will rule over as a god. As such, he is essentially the living distillation of the cruelty of humans. Once he is killed, however, there's one more villain left to face: the Diclonius DNA voice. She was the one manipulating Lucy and the one implied to be behind the Diclonii's madness, and could be considered the true antagonist, especially when she nearly destroys the world.

Not So Different: The bad guys regularly visit hospitals trying to find newborn Diclonii and take them, with or without their parents' consent. Notice how this resembles stories of elves stealing human babies (changelings).

Unwitting Instigator of Doom: By taunting Lucy and eventually killing her dog in front of her eyes, the kids at the orphanage unwittingly caused her to become a misanthropic Serial Killer for the rest of her life. Towards the end, Kurama attempt to shoot and kill Lucy in revenge, ultimately shooting Kouta in her presence, thus causing her to go on a Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum, leading to thousands more deaths.

What Measure Is a Non-Human?: When the survival of humanity is at stake, humans are willing to do lots of awful things. Inverted in the series. Where they would show horrible deaths for any human, but never showed onscreen Lucy's puppy's death.

Barbie Doll Anatomy: Common in the manga, and happens a handful of times in the anime as well. There are a number of full-frontal nude shots and while neither the anime nor the manga is shy about detailing nipples, the crotches are invariably left featureless. Justified in that most Diclonii encountered in the story are Silpelets which are likened to worker bees. As they're sterile they may also physically lack any primary sexual characteristics as well. Lucy, on the other hand, is a "queen" and fully capable of sexual reproduction so she's presumably better equipped, so to speak.

Healing Factor: Diclonius in the manga are noted to have a small level of ability to heal their wounds. This is noticeable when Nana first appears covered in scars, cuts and gashes across her entire body but later appears only shortly after her fight with Lucy completely devoid of those specific wounds. This apparently is also what helps the :clone Diana survive having her own heart gouged out and Lucy is even capable of healing Kouta's own wounds with her vectors near the end of the manga.

Karma Houdini: Averted with Lucy in the manga; Kouta does not forgive for brutally murdering his dad and sister in cold blood, and she dies by Superpower Meltdown, but the personalities of Lucy and Nyu are reincarnated as twin girls and are reunited with Kouta some years later. In the anime, however, she is implied to survive her last showdown with the army, and while Kouta doesn't exactly forgive her (or at least not her actions), he's much more sympathetic to her plight, and he'd rather see the killing stop than seek revenge. Lucy's anime fate strongly implies (even more so if we add an element from the Manga) that she purposefully killed her DNA Voice side so she and Nyu can finally live in peace with Kouta. Kurama appears to be one anytime he confronts Lucy. While the latter would kill just about anyone without a second thought, she never attacks him and at one point even pats him on the back with a bloody handprint from one of her vectors. The reason for this is because when he had Lucy surrounded with a female friend she made after Kouta, one of his men accidentally shoots the girl. Kurama promises he would do everything in his power to make sure she survived if Lucy turned herself in. Since she didn't want to lose yet another friend, she agreed to it. But later Kurama tells her that the girl died from her wound. So Lucy promises to make him suffer the same way he made her suffer, hence why she doesn't kill him, but merely wants to destroy everything around him.

Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Justified. The vectors of the Diclonii make most guns completely ineffective against them. High caliber tungsten rounds seem to be the only thing they have trouble stopping.

Final Solution: Every Diclonii in the series has been abused by humans to the point where their biological survival instinct has fused with their psychosis, which insists that humans must be eradicated or they will eradicate Diclonii. Turns out that this is absolutely correct. Once knowledge of Diclonii is widespread, all Diclonii babies are killed at birth until human scientists develop a vaccine capable of keeping them from being conceived at all.

Soundtrack Dissonance: The ending theme, Chieko Kawabe's "Be Your Girl", in contrast to all that the viewer's seen for the previous 20 minutes or so. Though if one pays attention to "Be Your Girl"s lyrics, they actually fit with the rest of the story fairly well since it's a song about a girl loving a man she can't have.

Red Shirt: Played painfully straight. Almost every guard, soldier or cop seen in the series ends up slaughtered by a Diclonius, often Lucy, even if they're not aggressive or fleeing, which probably make us wonder What Measure Is a Mook?.

Off-Model: The art in the first manga volume is a little dodgy, especially concerning Lucy's legs and several male faces. It noticeably improved, although it's not without some hiccups that carry over into Nononono.

Oh, Crap!: One of the only times Lucy is hit with this is in her battle with Mariko, who could control three times as many vectors as her at any given moment. That said, it still does nothing to break her will to fight. Just before Lucy kills him, Tomoo's look is one of pure shock and terror.

Averted with Lucy in the manga; Kouta does not forgive for brutally murdering his dad and sister in cold blood, and she dies by Superpower Meltdown, but the personalities of Lucy and Nyu are reincarnated as twin girls and are reunited with Kouta some years later. In the anime, however, she is implied to survive her last showdown with the army, and while Kouta doesn't exactly forgive her (or at least not her actions), he's much more sympathetic to her plight, and he'd rather see the killing stop than seek revenge.

One-Gender Race: Subverted, as there are male diclonius but they are so incredibly rare that we only see one in the manga, Lucy's half brother. There are two other cases, but it's not clear whether they're descended from Diclonii whose ancestors bred with humans to the point that the only part of the Diclonius heritage remaining is the horns (there are two of them), or if they just have a birth defect that changes the shape of their skulls. The manga makes it clear on this front: the Kakuzawas are only Humans with a slight genetic mutation. Lucy could not sense them at all; Her Diclonius are a separate evolution altogether as a result of genetic manipulation as opposed to being descendants from demons.

Speaking of Mayu, there's also her backstory. She was forced to escape her sexually abusive stepfather and indifferent mother, and in the anime she almost walks into the ocean after realizing she has nowhere else to go.

Fan Disservice: Lucy walks around naked in the first episode while slaughtering people and splattering blood and limbs everywhere. Mayu in the scenes where she is molested by her stepfather. Also, many of the Diclonius are naked while they are tortured and the like. It's a given that if a character is nude or nearly so, something bad is either happening or about to happen, with few exceptions (see the previous trope). Erotic or traumatizing? You decide. Also, Panty Shots. Lots and lots of panty shots. Usually immediately followed by traumatic slaughter.

Shout-Out: Lucy. Professor Kakuzawa wants to make Lucy his "Lebensborn". Barbara's escape from the hospital and subsequent flight above the streets looks very much like Neo's flight though the streets in one of the last Matrix movies. Kouta wore a Batman shirt at school with Yuka and Nyu.

Informed Ability: The Diclonii 'drive to kill humans' is (almost) only ever seen in diclonii who have been horrifically, unforgivably abused by humans. There are very few times this seems to 'not' be the case, and all but one of those could be a situation of children with terrible power not knowing how to control it. Until the very, VERY end of the manga (as in the last chapter), we are only shown a single example of this not being the case, and even that one is questionable. Given the near total lack of evidence to support this, it's probably more likely that the "voice driving diclonii to kill all humans" is nothing more than the internal manifestation of Lucy and Barbara's psychotic break(s), and all other such examples are just kids being kids with horrifically dangerous powers.

No Name Given: Numerous examples, especially near the Manga's end. The Agent and the Unknown man are the most prominent. The Operatives in the Vector Craft, the Fleet Captain, and The Bakery Lady are also never named. Partially with the vast majority of the main cast, who have either only a given name or only a family name. Yuu and Anna Kakuzawa are a rarity. Yuu Kakuzawa and Shirakawa gain names by accident in the anime. Isobe's name is hard to spot at times— he almost seems this trope.

Nature vs. Nurture: A point is made about whether or not the Diclonii really are malicious, or if their cruelty is a byproduct of how they were raised. Nana seems to indicate that it is indeed nurture, not nature.

What the Hell, Hero?: Kouta deals one to Lucy once he realizes that the girl he knew as Nyuu is the same girl who murdered his family as a child. He takes the revelation about as well as any rational person would, and it's not until after the dust settles that he calms down enough for Lucy to explain herself.

Good Eyes, Evil Eyes: Used in a very prolific manner. In fact, a key characteristic of a Diclonius who's been pushed too far is a piercing, glazed-over look in their eyes, signifying their descent into murderous misanthropy.

Contrived Coincidence: Once it's revealed that Lucy and Kouta met as children, it gets hard to believe that Lucy washing up on that beach would coincide perfectly with Kouta's return to that village for the first time in several years, and that both would have Laser-Guided Amnesia, and that Kouta's university teacher is the son of the Big Bad, and that Mayu happens to witness the fight between Lucy and Nana... Well, you can see where this is going.

Despair Event Horizon: Lucy seems to cross this during her final showdown with Bando and Nana. She is about to kill Mayu after Mayu asks her if she really is a bad person. Lucy can only give a sad smile.

Your Head A-Splode: The Diclonii commonly inflict this on their victims. Everyone who dies that isn't gorily chopped in half? Losing all your limbs at once is okay so long as you get a tourniquet though. The general rule seems to be that as long as your torso and head are still attached and intact, you're going to be fine. Unless you are a Red Shirt.

Art Evolution: In the manga, the artwork starts off okay, but gets dramatically better. Compare the cover of volume 1◊ to volume 12◊. The horns of the Diclonii also had a different look at the start of the manga, though that changed quickly.

Powered by a Forsaken Child : Much of Kakuzawa's scheming involves the use and abuse of Kurama's Diclonius daughter, Mariko. While at the Institute, she is a hostage to ensure Kurama's complete obedience. Her use as a weapon against Nana and Lucy distracts Kurama and prevents him from acting in time to stop the virus-carrying missile. Even when Mariko herself is gone, her many and varied clones provide both weaponry and, most nightmarishly of all, the organic material used to build the Vector Attack Craft which have a dubious track record against the masses of Clone Diclonii, and fail completely against Lucy making this trope literal and even more loathsome.

Four Lines, All Waiting: Past Chapter 75, the manga relies on taking on individual routes and expanding on multiple characters. In Chapter 87, there's at least six individual timelines happening at once, and each timeline takes up a page, resulting in a extreme Mood Whiplash. In no particular order: A is Nyu captured by Kakuzawa and learning of Lucy. B is Kohta recovering from a gunshot wound in Chapter 85. C is Nana finding Kurama borderline deranged after enduring through Chapter 65. D is Barbara and Nousou the former who gets promoted to central character after she kills Nousou. E is Professor Arakawa developing and finding the cure for the Diclonius. F is The Agent finding Nousou's headless body.

Meaningful Titles: The title is taken from a German song/poem of the same name (Nozomi just sings this already existing song) about an elf who gets hit on the head for so much as peering into human society (symbolising the exclusion of Diclonii from society) and is a reference to Lucy/Nyu more than any other character. The "Elfen" part is a reference to her horns which resembles sharp ears. The "Lied" part (though actually meaning "song" in German) is symbolic to the English term "lie," meaning deception, a fitting reference to the innocent persona Nyu and the sociopathic persona Lucy. In other words, a reference to her deception to everyone, but most importantly Kohta.

A huge part of the show, but Bandou really pushes the envelope, and the Unknown Man pushes it off a cliff. Sometimes it seems that the Diclonii are more human than the actual humans, but usually not for long.

Plot-Based Voice Cancellation: The first episode has a brief flashback hinting that Kouta has met Lucy before. In the orignal version, Lucy can clearly be heard saying "Liar..." over this scene. In the dub, the word is played very faintly and is overwhelmed by the background noise, so it's barely audible. This was likely to avoid giving away certain details too early.

14 seconds into the first episode, a nameless guard is beheaded by Lucy. That's right 14 seconds in. In this one, the clowns didn't even make it in the door, it was slammed in their face right after it was opened.

It certainly seems like this. There's Lucy who was on the receiving end of Attempted Rape, and Mayu who ran away from a sexually abusive stepfather. And in the manga, there's the Unknown Man. How do we know he's evil? Because of the atrocious rape he gleefully commits on Diclonii. Even when he's on a time frame to find Lucy, he still stops to try and rape Mayu.

Running Gag: Arakawa is constantly voicing her annoyance about being kept from her apparently frequent showers. Later, after having worked alone in a basement room without much outside contact for weeks, she's made her great breakthrough working in nothing but her sweaty underwear and dirty hair. Nana losing her concentration and dropping her arm or leg (often to the disbelief or horror of accidental witness). Nyu groping the other girls. Yuka getting wet down there and ruining her panties.